Martin Brundle has warned that there will be “challenges” at Red Bull should Christian Horner be dismissed as a result of the ongoing investigation.
The Red Bull team principal’s job is under threat after an employee made a complaint of alleged inappropriate behaviour to parent company Red Bull GmbH.
Horner strenuously denies the claim but a verdict on the investigation is expected to be made public this week and could mean a departure for the grid’s longest serving team boss.
For the time being, it has been business as usual with Horner appearing at both the RB20 car launch in Milton Keynes and pre-season testing but there has been a cloud hanging over the reigning World Champions.
Brundle, who is also out in Bahrain for the opening race of the new season, believes the uncertainty within the team started long before the Horner investigation and was triggered by the death of co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz.
“I think the problem Red Bull have is that Dietrich Mateschitz was the final arbiter of any key decision,” Brundle told Sky Sports. “And they followed him. He said jump, they said how high. So I think you’re already seeing some of this, chaos is too strong a word, but disruption, let’s call it, from that point on in 2022.”
Horner’s exit would represent another loss of a key figure of continuity with the 50-year-old having been at the team since its inception in 2005.
Brundle said that while the immediate future is sorted, there could be “challenges” down the road.
“Obviously, if you take Christian out of that loop, then a vacuum is always filled with other things, isn’t it?” Brundle said. “And whether that would have the same effect [as Mateschitz’s passing,] but they’ve got momentum and they’ve got [Max] Verstappen. So I wouldn’t be too worried about their immediate performance.
“But down the road, you’d have to say that that will create some challenges.”
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For his part, Horner has consistently denied the allegations but Brundle’s Sky colleague Craig Slater suggested a decision could be made as early as Wednesday (February 28).
Sky Sports report that the full investigation is now with the board of Red Bull GmbH at the company’s headquarters in Salzburg, Austria, and is said to run to well over 100 pages in length, coupled with the interview testimony of those involved.
Any communication from Red Bull’s parent company is unlikely to contain significant details surrounding the allegations themselves, in order to respect the confidentiality of those involved.
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